Best of Friends
by JainaSolo18
Summary: The missing scene between Adam and Charlie in D3 where they rekindle their friendship. Please R&R!


**Best of Friends**

**Disclaimer**: The Mighty Ducks as well as the characters Adam, Charlie, Bombay, Hans, Fulton, and Connie don't belong to me. They are property of Disney.

**Summary**: The missing scene between Adam and Charlie in D3 where they rekindle their friendship. Please R & R.

"A-Adam?"

I jumped at the unexpected voice behind me. "Charlie!" I exclaimed at the silhouette of Charlie Conway standing over me with his hands on hips. "W-hat are you doing up?"

"I should be asking you the same thing," he replied, crossing his arms.

I shrugged and leaned back against the tree trunk, tilting my gaze up and staring at the twinkling stars overhead. "Couldn't sleep."

An expression of disbelief crossed his face as he settled down into a sitting position beside me at the tree's base. An awkward and uncomfortable silence washed over us, as I gave Charlie a sidelong glance, gauging his reaction. He just sat there, his arms resting on top of his slightly bent knees, staring straight ahead. Dropping my gaze, I stared at the quivering grass blades, touched by the wind's invisible hand, briefly at a loss of what to say. Would our friendship ever be the same again? _We were friends one, Charlie. Why did you turn against me? I _trusted_ you._

"Charlie…"

It wasn't until I felt his probing gaze that I realized I had said his name aloud. But what was there to say? Swallowing hard, I closed my eyes, struggling to regain control of the numerous, scattered, and pain-numbing thoughts plaguing my mind. It never used to be this awkward between Charlie and I. There was a time when we could sit together comfortably in silence. Exhaling sharply, I opened my eyes and focused mainly on Charlie's face.

"This afternoon at the board meeting…did you mean it? What you said to Reilly?" _Do you really want me back on the team?_

"Of course I did, Bankie," he exclaimed, incredulously while staring at me as if I'd grown another head. "You're one of us."

"Am I?" I asked quietly, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. You're a Duck and Ducks fly together."

"If that were true, why'd you turn against me?"

"I never—"

"'Yeah, right, preppy,'" I interrupted, frowning. "Remember when you said those words to me at the JV/Varsity match? I tried to tell you the truth, because I knew _you_ of all people would be the one to believe me. But you didn't. You turned your back on me when I needed you the most, Charlie."

"Adam, I do trust you—"

"Do you trust the Ducks?"

Abruptly he dropped his gaze, his eyes clouding with uncertainty and pain. "Well…yes, I do…if the Ducks still exist."

"Then why did you walk out on them?" Wordlessly, he eyes flew up to meet mine. "That's right, Connie told me about you and Fulton quitting. At least Fulton had the decency to come back. I mean, did you even stop and think about how your leaving would affect the team? You were the captain—the heart of the team. We looked up to you. We relied on you. Did you ever consider how we would feel?

"You should talk," he growled, his expression darkening. "Who hid their sprained wrist during the Junior Goodwill Games?

My eyes narrowed. "That's not fair, Charlie."

"Fair?" he exclaimed, his temper flaring. "You want to know what's not fair? No one knows how these past few weeks have made me feel."

"No one knows because you never want to talk about it!" I snapped. "I'm not the only one guilty of hiding my feelings. You think this year has been easy for me? It's been hard on all of us, Charlie. Hans was a close friend to all of us. You're not the only affected by his death. You're _not_ the center of the universe, Charlie."

"Adam…I-I'm sorry. I have only been thinking of myself. Oh, what happened to us, Adam? We used to be best friends."

"I don't know, Charlie," I whispered, shaking my head. "I don't know…W-would things have been different if…" I closed my eyes and shook my head. "Forget it, it's not important."

"If what?" he pressed, his words stopping me as I started to pull myself up. Glancing over at him, I wondered if maybe he'd be able to understand this sudden and chilling thought. "Come on, Adam, you can tell me."

Lowering myself back to the ground, I closed my eyes and sighed. "If…if the coach had assigned you or any one else for that matter to Varsity instead of me, no one would have turned on you," I quietly explained. "It's because I was a Hawk, isn't it?" A bit of resentment underlined my tone.

Charlie stiffened at my words. "W-What does being a Hawk have to do with this?"

"You say I'm a Duck, but it doesn't really count in the long run, does it? Because Hawk or no Hawk, you still think I'll stab you in the back the first chance I get!"

"You still think about that?" he asked quietly. Unable to answer, I turned away, once again feeling like a ten year-old walking into the Ducks locker room: alone and helpless. A hand touched my shoulder. Startled, I glanced up to see Charlie standing behind me. "Adam, we don't hold that against you. _You_ are a Duck. Being a Hawk is in the past. It's forgotten."

"Is it?"

He sighed. "Adam—"

I shouldn't have started this. I didn't want to hear anymore. "Don't. Just…stop," I whispered, shoving his hand off and pushing myself to my feet. As I began making my way towards the dorm entrance, he stood in front of me, blocking me. "Charlie," I moaned, not really wanting to deal with this right now, "get out of my way."

"No."

Bristling at the sound of his authoritative voice, my fists clenched at my sides. He may be the team captain, but this was _after_ working hours. "I don't want to deal with this right now. Move," I snarled, my expression darkening.

"I know you don't, but you're going to," he snapped. I blinked at the uncharacteristic outburst of anger in his voice. Sure I'd seen him upset, but never like this. "I'm not going to let you go through this alone anymore."

"Charlie…" I gave a defeated sigh, knowing I couldn't win against him, as I wandered back over to a nearby wrought-iron bench and sat down. Silently, Charlie joined me. "I never had anything to do with the Varsity pranks," I muttered, leaning forward, my arms hanging limply between my legs. "Honestly. They didn't tell me about the dinner one until it was too late." Without a word he stared at me, his expression unreadable. "Y-you do believe me, right?"

He blinked, as if startled awake, and nodded. "I do."

My eyebrows shot up. "You didn't seem to think so at the JV/Varsity match."

"I know. I wasn't thinking then."

I snorted, rolling my eyes. "Got that right."

"Look, you think this is easy for me to say? You want me to come out and say it? Fine. I felt betrayed. Betrayed by you. Betrayed by Bombay. I _hated_ this school. It seemed like everyone was out to make sure I failed. Orion did everything he could to destroy the Ducks. Maybe he did. He took away my C. I was the captain, Adam. How could he do that to me? I had worked hard for that C and for what? To have him take it away just like that?" he asked, snapping his fingers as his expression darkened with…regret? Anger? Sadness? I couldn't tell as I shook my head. _It's just a letter, Charlie._

"You know, sometimes I envy you, Adam." My mouth dropped. What ever I had been expecting him to say, it wasn't this. "You always were an awesome player. You always topped me in everything. You got to play on a professional team. The scouts always paid attention to you; no matter how hard I skated. I just wanted to be noticed. Why do you have to be so good, huh?" He shook his head, his voice strained, the pain bleeding in his eyes. "Why do you get everything?

"You grew up in a family with _both_ your parents. Mom and I left my real dad. Every guy she's ever dated since then has been a complete jerk. Oh sure they like her just fine, but as soon as they catch a glimpse of me, POW! They're gone. The only guy I really wanted for a father joined the North Stars and by the time he came back…she had remarried. You're the lucky one. You've got _both_ your biological parents. You can have anything you want. All you have to do is ask."

"Being rich isn't everything, Charlie," I told him softly, the sound of my voice shattering the silence. "And my family life has hardly been peaches and crème. Back when I was a Hawk, my dad used to critize my every move. Nothing I did was right. I always had to do things _his_ way.

"And since when do you care about the scouts?" I asked, slightly amused. "You were the one who told me not to worry and to just be myself. Do you really believe you're nothing?" Momentarily I shook my head. Charlie had more talent than I could ever hope to have. "Do you really believe you have no talent? Charlie, you are even more talented than me. I was taught "it's not worth winning if you can't win big." You were taught to have fun. Before I joined the Ducks, hockey was a sport; something I thought I had to be an expert at. I did it because my dad wanted me too. I'm not sure I even enjoyed it. But when I joined the Ducks, Coach Bombay taught me how to have fun, to be myself. That's what makes winning so great. Because of the Ducks, I now have a love for hockey. Now I want to play hockey, not because of my dad, not because I have too, but because I _want _to.

"Joining the team gave me something else. Something I'd never had before: a best friend. Do you remember that day when I walked into the Duck's locker room and everyone stared at me with unhidden anger, hostility, and resentment?" He nodded and I could almost see the memory of myself at the age of ten walking into the locker room all alone. "You were the only Duck willing to welcome me, willing to accept me as a team member, despite what the others thought or how I'd treated you in the past…I never told you how much that meant to me."

"Adam…" As his voice, thick with emotion, cracked, abruptly he paused and cleared his throat. "I can't tell you how sorry I am for the way I've been treating you. Everything has just kept piling up until it became too much…and-and I…I just snapped."

"Charlie…"

"Y-you don't have to say anything," he interrupted, holding up a hand. "I know I screwed up. I screwed up royally and…I'm sorry…" Slowly his voice trailed off as he stared at something on the ground by his feet. "Adam…" he swallowed hard, his voice shaking, "do you think it might be possible for us to…you know…can we go back to being best friends?" Hopefully he glanced up, our gazes locking. I blinked; I had been so caught up listening to his apology that I didn't know what to say. Sighing, Charlie closed his eyes as he turned away, but not before I caught the fleeting expression of pain in his eyes. "I guess that was too much to ask after everything that's happened, huh?" he laughed humorlessly without waiting for my reply. "I-I supposed I'll see you—"

"Shut up, Spazway," I whispered furiously, abruptly regaining control of my voice as I threw my arms around his neck. Joyful tears threatened to spill, but I ignored them as I felt Charlie hugging me back with the same intensity. "Just shut up."

Someone once told me that someone who's a true friend, you'd be surprised at how understanding they can be. Although Charlie and I were no where near the best of friends we used to be before this whole JV/Varsity mess, hopefully these recent trials will have strengthen our friendship and maybe someday soon we can go back to being the best of friends.


End file.
